Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

“It’s always the mindset of an artist to try and work on getting better with each album, an onwards and upwards kind of thing,” says Star Kendrick from the Australian dream pop duo Geowulf. In every possible way, that is the essence of Geowulf on ‘My Resignation’. The sophomore record from the London-via- Australia duo of Kendrick and Toma Banjanin is an effort of growth not just musically but personally. Their development from 2018’s ‘Great Big Blue’ to this point is as much a testament to their progression as artists as it is their blossoming as individuals.

With her confidence leading the way, Kendrick’s vocals have been pushed to the forefront as the music around them has tightened to better represent Geowulf’s live arrangements. Banjanin had opened a studio in London, giving the pair a stable space to perfect their sound. Unlike the last record’s piecemeal sessions, they were able to record all of ‘My Resignation’ during one three-week span trip to Melbourne.

Coupled with the fact that the bandmates are now also housemates (with his girlfriend/her sister), Geowulf have never been a stronger unit.Which is why this latest effort is truly the band at their best. They’ve resigned from their old ways of doing things, old ways of perception, and are better for it both subjectively and sonically. Their tale of self-improvement and acceptance is present in every note and lyric of ‘My Resignation’, rendered beautifully in pop perfection.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Rock. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

South of France based foursome the Sunset Suns started out as surfers who loved making music, but for the Aussie-Brit indie group three hectic years of writing and recording, a BBC Sound Poll nomination and near non-stop touring - including supporting Imagine Dragons on 36 arena dates across Europe and Nothing But Thieves on their recent UK tour (inc Alexandra Palace) as well as selling out London’s Shepherds Bush Empire - has turned them in to seasoned musicians who have to squeeze surfing in on the side.

Still, you won’t hear them complaining. Swapping waves for stages and beaches for fields, playing well over 250 shows in three years has tuned Sunset Sons in to one of the UK’s most exciting live bands and garnered them an AIM nomination for Best Live Act. They are now poised to release their second album ‘Blood Rush Deja Vu’ on the Bad Influence label, and shows a more mature, dark and urgent side of the band, whilst keeping to their trademark festival anthemic rock and laid back dreamy beach retrospectives. The album has been produced by Grammy winning and ‘MPG Producer of the Year 2018’ Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice, The Amazons) and features 10 new tracks (including an exclusive track for physical formats only). Blood Rush Deja Vu was recorded between their adopted hometown, the surf commune of Hossegor on the south-west Atlantic coast of France and Kensaltown Studios in London.

Their acclaimed top 25 independent debut album, ‘Very Rarely Say Die’, and follow up EP ‘The River’ captured both the raucous spirit of those live shows and the carefree attitude that made the band friends in the first place.

Label Review.

1962 album with 9 bonus tracks. Blues.

Our Overview.

Spectacular release of ‘Mr. Scrapper Blues’ a limited Edition of 500 copies, 6-panel digipak, includes comprehensive booklet with original and up-to-date liner notes. Francis Hillman Scrapper was an American blues guitarist and singer of the late 1920s and 1930s and an overlooked blues master, who was a contemporary of Robert Johnson and other Delta blues artists and known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr. Scrapper Blackwell was a truly remarkable guitarist, Blackwell’s fluid acoustic single-note picking, in the Chicago blues of Piedmont blues styles, inspired a long line of musicians.

This essential release presents Blackwell’s complete LP, ‘Mr. Scrapper’s Blues’, recorded during the his early ‘60s comeback. The long-unavailable masterpiece was originally issued by the Prestige/Blues label in 1962.

These solo recordings, taped in Indianapolis in 1961, marked the return of the great country-blues guitarist, who had retired from the music scene in 1935 following the death of his close friend and partner, pianist Leroy Carr. In addition to the original album, this remastered Collector’s CD issue, contains 9 bonus tracks, including hard-to-find sides from the same period.

Tracks: Goin’ Where The Monon Crosses The Yellow Dog / Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out / “A” Blues / Little Girl Blues / George Street Blues / Blues Before Sunrise / Little Boy Blue / “E” Blues / Shady Lane / Penal Farm Blues Bonus Tracks / Blue ‘n Whistling / Soft Blues / Sally-In-The-Alley Blues / No Good Woman Blues / Back Step Blues / Blues Before Sunrise [1960 Version] / “E” Blues [1960 Version] / How Long Blues / Leaving You Blues

Label Review.

Funk punk from Leeds.

Our Overview.

‘Singles & Sessions 1979-1981’ is a must have for 80s post punk fans’ from Delta 5. Delta 5 were the epitome of post punk, they were a two bass guitar driven, 3 girl/2 boy outfit who managed to break all the Trad Rock rules and create a brave new pop that was beloved of the John Peel listeners of the time but strangely sounds like an almost mainstream pop these days as the rest of the world finally catches up.

The original members of Delta 5 - the highly influential, yet short lived early 80s post punk band - Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and Bethan Peters (bass), formed the band “on a lark” in 1979, but soon became a part of the thriving Leeds post-punk scene, and later added Kelvin Knight on drums and Alan Riggs on guitar.

Part of the Leeds/UK art/music scene in the late '70s that launched The Gang Of Four and The Mekons, Delta 5 was signed to Rough Trade after only a few months in existence, the band combining feminist politics with a two-bass funk-punk sound (much in the style of another more famous Leeds band, Gang of Four) released in 1979 their debut single, “Mind Your Own Business”.

BBC host and producer John Peel requested the band do a "Sessions" gig for him and they were officially on their way. Relentless touring with The Gang Of Four, Echo And The Bunnymen, B52s, The Specials, The Teardrop Explodes, and U2 put the group on the map. They continued until various members departed in 1981, when they recorded one last single and broke up in 1982. This release contains long unavailable material as well as the never before released Peel Sessions. Kill Rock Stars. 2006. Comes with a poster!

Label Review. 

2019 album. Post punk. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

‘So Cold Streams’ is the fifth studio album from French post-punkers Frustration, featuring Jason Williamson, of Sleaford Mods. Right from the very first seconds of “Insane”, a humongous electro-punk monster that wouldn’t have been out of place on an 1988 EBM EP, you realise Frustration are once more pushing the envelope. The punk quintet could have easily played safe releasing a record basically identical to the previous one; intense, abrasive, honest but with no risk. They could have prepared their slow but inevitable exit. Instead of setting up a comfortable routine, Frustration recorded its fifth album as if it were the first, like a bunch of guys who've been playing together for six months, who have nothing to lose.

Of course, post-punk shenanigans is still there (martial drums, elastic bass, hitand- run guitars), but ‘So Cold Streams’ is full of a brand new energy, raucous lyrics and full-on audacity. Take a listen to “Brume”, an industrial nightmare with lyrics screamed in French. Or the poppy and intimate “Lil’ White Sister” sounds surprisingly like the Smiths or Echo & The Bunnymen. Or the insane “Slave Markets” on which the band invited Jason Williamson, half of Sleaford Mods - a band that was pivotal in Frustration’s newfound youth.

“Sleaford Mods is a band that, musically and humanly, gave us a real boost,” explains Fabrice Gilbert (vocals). They gave us a real sense of freedom, it allowed me to really say everything I wanted to say in my lyrics, to talk about extremely intimate subjects as well as much more general things, whether it be political or social. So Cold Streams is, paradoxically perhaps, our most disillusioned, energetic and free record.

Label Review.

2019 album. Former lead singer of Bellowhead. Also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Chicago born and sheffield based folk artist Jon Boden has become the “stand out performer of his generation” (The Guardian), but one whose repertoire extends far beyond the boundaries of the genre, from leading progressive folk juggernaut Bellowhead to his work in Spiers & Boden and as an acclaimed solo artist. ‘Rose in June’ is Boden’s fourth solo studio album, following his acclaimed 2017 album, ‘Afterglow’.

“Since this band [The Remnant Kings] was debuted live at Cambridge Folk Festival on the mainstage in 2016 we’ve been able to tour the UK and play many festivals in this bigger line-up so it felt very important to get into the studio and record lots of the stuff that is central to the live set, but has never been committed to tape,” says Jon Boden on ‘Rose in June’, the new album recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studios. Live favourites such as ‘Rose In June’, ‘All Hang Down’, ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Beating The Bounds’ have all been lovingly rendered here by producer and long-time collaborator, Andy Bell.

‘Rose In June’ captures Boden’s inimitable folk storytelling backed by The Remnant Kings after they’ve been hardened by months on the road, the songs constantly evolving as they were performed by a rotating cast of members. The resulting album finds both Boden and band at the top of their games.

Jon Boden is best known as the lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. After twelve years, a quarter of a million album sales, seven singles on the Radio 2 playlist and selling out hundreds of venues throughout the land and beyond. Widely respected as an interpreter of traditional song, his solo live shows showcase Jon’s instrumental talents on fiddle, guitar and concertina, as well as his trademark ‘stomp box’ which he and John Spiers introduced into to the world of traditional music in 2001. Through his solo work and his work with Bellowhead and Spiers & Boden, Jon has won eleven BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

His most recent album ‘Afterglow’ was released in October 2017 and continues Jon’s explorations of a post-oil world, this time following the course of two lovers over the night of a fire-lit city carnival. The first single from the album ‘All The Stars Are Coming Out Tonight’ was playlisted on BBC Radio 2. The release was followed by the launch of the 11-piece Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings which toured the UK in autumn 2017 and spring 2018. Summer 2018 saw the big band in demand for major folk festivals including Wickham Festival, Beautiful Days, Snape Proms and Shrewsbury Folk Festival. 2019 saw Jon touring with the three string players from the band and performing in both the 6 piece and 11 piece versions of the Remnant Kings.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

English singer-songwriter, trip hop producer and DJ Fink is releasing his new album entitled ‘Bloom Innocent’ which is the gravity-defying, sky-scraping, stars-reaching sound of a man on a mission: to excite himself, to escape expectations, to thrust clear of all his previous achievements. It’s a spacious, capacious, eighttrack wonder glowing with delicate piano, ear-tingling guitar and Fink’s soulful, woody vocal.

His seventh studio album was largely recorded in Fink’s home studio in Berlin, aided and abetted by his regular touring musicians, with an ally available to him back in London: Flood - one of the world’s all-time greatest record producers (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, U2, Foals, Warpaint, The Killers).

CD housed in a hardback bookpack sleeve. Comes protected by recyclable bio-based shrinkwrap. Half-speed mastered 140-gram white vinyl housed in a printed inner sleeve and a bespoke uncoated five-panel fold-out duplexed sleeve. Includes plantable wildflowerseeded digitsl download card. Comes protected by degradable bio-based shrinkwrap. Album artwork by RT Vrieze (Knorth Studios), who has previously worked with Bon Iver.

Label Review.

2019 album. Drum & Bass.

Our Overview.

Following six studio albums of funk-driven loungecore, Hospital Records’ head honcho Tony Colman aka London Elektricity embarks on the boldest musical adventure of his 30-year career with his seventh long-player ‘Building Better Worlds’. His latest body of work delves into uncharted depths for a very personal and expressive collection of tracks where drum & bass and live instrumentation meet. London Elektricity can be found showcasing this latest chapter with tours in China, Japan, the UK and Europe throughout 2019.

It began in a Forest Hill cafe in 2017 where London Elektricity adoringly browsed through a series of Benjamin Beech’s photography of perfectly untouched, derelict buildings and towns in Japan, Taiwan and China. “Many of the images show what has been, what could have been and what will be. The duality of beauty and melancholia within appealed to me immensely.”

Each track was married to a photo, to join the sights to sounds from each of his tales of ‘Building Better Worlds.’ Leading the voyage is the orchestral masterpiece ‘Final View From The Rooftops’, that’s been 13 years in the making and is the “most unusual piece of D+B” [he’s] ever made”, featuring the incredible operatic talent of Cydnei B. ‘Build A Better World’ is a smooth drum & bass sonnet with the vocals of Hospital family favourite Emer Dineen.

“The beauty of this song lies in its simplicity, but also its duality. I’ll leave you to work out what the lyrics are really about... They are some of the darkest lyrics I’ve come across in years.” Another special moment is the feature of London Elektricity’s youngest son, The Secretary-General. The talented nine-year-old takes no ‘Time To Think’ as he flawlessly flows through Inja’s lyrics with the ever-vibrant MC following suit, bringing the track full-circle across generations. London Elektricity is the mastermind behind classic Hospital albums such as ‘Pull The Plug’, ‘Syncopated City’, ‘Are We There Yet?’, and ‘Yikes’.

Label Review.

'Welcome To The Vault' is a blinding collection of 52 audio tracks and 22 performances on DVD. With 38 previously unreleased recordings, including 5 compositions that have never been heard before, and featuring alternate versions of classic songs, live performances and more. 70 page hard bound book of Steve's personal photos with a 7,000 word essay by David Fricke. DVD contains 22 performances including rare footage from the Monterey Pop Festival 1967, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert 1973, ABC In Concert 1974, Pine Knob Michigan-1982, Steve and Les Paul at Fat Tuesdays-1990 and Austin City Limits 2011. 10 Guitar picks with Steve's Pegasus logo.

Also available ‘Selections From The Vault’ on CD and Clear Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The exceptional Steve Miller has been one of rock and roll’s constants and now is opening up his voluminous archive of recordings for the first time ever. Steve has been a influential presence on the American music scene more than half a century. To begin with, he was a mainstay of the San Francisco music scene that upended American culture in the late '60s. With albums like ‘Children of the Future’, ‘Sailor’ and ‘Brave New World’, Miller perfected a psychedelic blues sound that drew on the deepest sources of American roots music and simultaneously articulated a compelling vision of what music - and, indeed, society - could be in the years to come.

Then, in the '70s, Miller crafted a brand of pure pop that was smart, polished, exciting and irresistible - and that dominated radio in a way that few artists have ever managed. Hit followed hit in what seemed like an endless flow: “The Joker,” "Take the Money and Run," "Rock'n Me," "Fly Like an Eagle," "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love," among them. To this day, those songs are instantly recognisable when they stream on the radio - and impossible not to sing along with. Their hooks are the very definition of indelible.

Running through Miller’s distinctive catalog is a combination of virtuosity and song craft. And that’s no accident. His parents were jazz aficionados, not to mention close friends of Les Paul and Mary Ford, so, as a budding guitarist, Miller absorbed valuable lessons from that musical tradition. When the family moved to Texas, Miller deepened his education in the blues with family friend T-Bone Walker. Miller then moved to Chicago, where he played with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Paul Butterfield. That range of sources informs his music to this day.

In recent years, Miller has fully immersed himself in the blues and its many byways. As he has always done, he continues to find creative outlets for the full panoply of his musical passions.

In the course of his long, full career, Miller has sold tens of millions of records and his music has been streamed well over 2 billion times. With each listen the beauty and immediacy of his work, whether at its most playful or most serious, is palpable. As always, whether he was riding the top of the charts or traveling the endless blue highways of American music, you can hear him playing and singing with conviction and precision, passion and eloquence, making music that is at once immediately accessible, thrillingly alive in the present, and more than able to stand the test of time.

Also available is 'Selections From The Vault’ an album which spotlights key tracks from the deluxe 3 CD + DVD box set, ‘Welcome To The Vault’. Issued as both a 13 track CD, and 8 track clear vinyl LP, both featuring previously unreleased material direct from Steve’s archives,

Label Review. 

2019 Freddie Mercury solo career Box Set. 10x10 hard slipcase to house: 3CD+DVD+Blu-ray. CD1: Never Boring (Brand new compilation 2019) / CD2: Mr. Bad Guy / CD3: Barcelona / DVD/Blu-ray: (Brand new promo video compilation of Freddie's promo videos upgraded to HD for the first time) / 120-page hardback book featuring unpublished and rare photos of Freddie and quotes about his solo career and life / Poster + Postcard / Limited Edition. Also available on CD and Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

The official Queen biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ released in 2018, was a huge success at the box office and the soundtrack album has been lodged in the upper echelons of the charts around the world since. What better time to remind music lovers that Freddie did release some solo records away from the band and a brand new best of has been put together to highlight his extra curricular hits.

It kicks off with his classic cover version of “The Great Pretender” originally a big hit for the 1950s vocal group The Platters. Also featured is his collaboration with opera star Montserrat Caballe: “Barcelona” which was a hit twice - when it first came out in 1987 and then again in 1992 for that years Summer Olympic games in that city. In 1993 a remix of the track “Living On My Own” from his first solo album ‘Mr Bad Guy’ was remixed and became a huge hit around the world making No.1 in several countries. A new version of the track ‘Time’ from the 1986 musical of the same name was released in 2019 when the shows producer Dave Clark discovered Freddie’s demo for the song. A new piano track was recorded to create a new version arguably more timeless than the 1980s sounding original.

This box set also includes his two solo albums 'Mr Bad Guy' and 'Barcelona' along with a DVD/Blu-ray and book.

Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Singer-songwriter Oscar Sheller is back with a spectacular new release ‘HTTP404’. However the musician is not calling it an album but the latest full-length project from London’s Oscar Scheller is ‘HTTP404’. Despite the obscure title the album this release is characterised by the incisive and witty lyrics we have come to know and love from Scheller and backed by melodies that will be jammed in your head all day long, ‘HTTP404’ is a honest to goodness 100% rush of smart, pop magic.

Since his debut full-length, ‘Cut & Paste’, Oscar has been very busy working as a writer and producer for other pop acts (Mae Muller, Lily Allen…). And as ably demonstrated by the two singles (‘1UP’ with Sarah Bonito and ‘Runaway’ with Tiffi) that have come since that debut, he has very clearly made a huge leap as both a songwriter and producer.

'HTTP404’ is a collection of 11 jaw-dropping pop songs, all bar one produced or co-produced by Oscar himself and all bar one collaborations with other musicians he has been working with or who he has been excited by on the scene (including Lily Allen, PAWWS, Vera Hotsauce, Jevon and Havelock, amongst others). The set of songs focuses on the importance of searching for something that no longer exists, not finding what you’re looking for. It’s philosophical and existential in places but there’s an underlying message across the board to stop thinking about things so much and just start living. Gone are the guitars that characterized his earlier sound and now in their place we find synths, samples and programming that pull the work of Oscar Scheller right into the zeitgeist.

Characterised by the incisive and witty lyrics we have come to know and love from Scheller and backed by melodies that will be jammed in your head all day long, ‘HTTP404’ is a rush of smart, pop magic.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

American indie band Big Thief had only just finished work on their third album, ‘U.F.O.F.’ - “the celestial twin” - days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth ‘U.F.O.F.’s sister album - “the earth twin” - ‘Two Hands’. With raw power and intimacy, ‘Two Hands’ folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (aka Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet.

Where ‘U.F.O.F.’ layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, ‘Two Hands’ grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt. In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the ‘U.F.O.F.’ session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session.

‘Two Hands’ had to be completely different - an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

Born on the streets of Los Angeles, Starcrawler is a band possessed by the spirit of its own hometown - steeped in the city’s cultural history, particularly the myths and stories of Sunset Strip, the Chateau Marmont and Rodney’s English Disco - every movement charged with a manic electricity. Since forming in 2015, vocalist Arrow de Wilde, guitarist/vocalist Henri Cash, bassist Tim Franco, and drummer Austin Smith have gone from bashing out songs in the garage to winning the love of such legendary artists as Shirley Manson and Elton John. And now their remarkable sophomore album ‘Devour You’ is a record that dynamically captures the essence and aggression of their gloriously unhinged live shows. Produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, L7) at Sunset Studios, ‘Devour You’ takes the feral intensity of their 2018 self-titled debut and twists it into something grander and more gracefully composed.

With its more elaborate and nuanced yet harder hitting sonic palette, the result is a selection of songs radiating both raw sensitivity and untameable power and a record that the band’s Arrow de Wilde says “encapsulates all the blood, sweat, bruised knees, and broken fingers of a Starcrawler show.”

Label Review.

2019 album. Afro-Latin jazz house.

Our Overview.

Over the course of his successful career Gabriele Poso, the future Afro-Latin jazz house from Italian master percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer has gained support from the likes of Gilles Peterson and other syndicated international shows. With his organic sound and contemporary electronic language, Gabriele Poso keeps winning over audiences with each and every performance around the globe. And now Gabriele s releasing his new album ‘Batik’, featuring guest vocalists Nailah Porter, Nina Rodriguez, Quetzal Guerrero & Sofia Rollo.

Gabriele Poso was born on the 22nd of October 1978 in Sardinia, in the heart of the Mediterranean, but grew up in Lecce, the capital of Salento. Early in his childhood, he established a deep connection with music, and felt that he was truly born when he discovered his family’s vinyl collection comprised of the best jazz, soul and Afro-Latin music. With the passage of time, Poso has dedicated himself to the study of various instruments, paying particular attention to the guitar, an instrument he uses to give life to his best compositions.

Following a long-term collaborative partnership with Osunlade / Yoruba Records, as well as albums on BBE and Agogo Records, on ‘Batik’ Poso further develops and matures his sound - exploring his extensive roots in Afro-Cuban percussion, while delving into the realms of jazz and soulful house. Much of the album features Poso on not only vocals but many of the instruments - including percussion, guitar and kalimba.

With mixing by renowned Spanish DJ and producer Kiko Navarro, the lead single “Africa Linda” is an up tempo live take on Latin house, featuring American-born soul singer Quetzal Guerrero on vocals.

Label Review. 

2019 album from UK Acid House pioneers. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

The dance floor kings Graham Massey & Andy Barker -aka 808 State pioneered Acid House Music back in 1987, making a name for themselves as embodying the sound of the future and over 30 years later they are still pushing boundaries while simultaneously embracing their decades-long history. And now the Mancunian electronic music pioneers are returning with ‘Transmission’ Suite, their first new album since 2002.

Outpost Transmission, the last original material from the band, came out in 2002. 808 State music has appeared since then in the form of remixes and the occasional edit and the band have continued to play live, but it wasn’t until last year that Graham Massey and Andrew Barker decided to reconvene with a view to working on a significant new tranche of material.

“We’re trying to make a future for other people to immerse themselves in. It feels a bit like an imaginary landscape. That’s always been a big part of 808 State, when you go back through the music: these kind of landscapes of futurism.” Graham Massey

‘Transmission’ was recorded in the former nerve centre of the Granada broadcasting empire in Manchester’s City Centre, some of its tracks are haunted by their home city’s industrial past - and, for that matter, the influence of classic Detroit techno - but the whole thing stays true to the band’s career-long focus on what comes next.

“The upcoming Initial Granada Report EP shows they’ve after a 16-year break from releasing material they have not lost that ability to tear up the dancefloor” - Analogue Trash

“Tokyo Tokyo is about getting people to dance. 16 years was too long to wait but it was worth it!” - Analogue Trash

“Always at the cutting edge, they’ve moved things forward once again. Brilliant stuff. - Backseat Mafia

Tokyo Tokyo reveals 808 State in robust mode, alive and well, and turns out to be a much satisfying and promising harbinger of the rest of the new music expected from the long serving band - Destroy / Exist

Label Review. 

2019 album. Nuclear Blast. Also available on vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Europe’s hardest working rock band unearth their dark and twisted roots, once and for all defining their unique brand of retro rock, doom and proto metal. Aptly entitled ‘For The Dead Travel Fast’ after German gothic poet Gottfried August Bürger, their doomed fifth record is a perilous journey into the land of the dead, a foray into the bleakest corners of our minds. A heavy, slow-paced, throbbing force of guitar, bass and drums, preciously enriched by spooky synths and a brooding narrative reminiscent of the Victorian death-cult. Beware, this is Kadavar gone pitch-black! “Old horror soundtracks and Werner Herzog’s ‘Dracula’ had a huge impact on this album”, drumming maniac Tiger states. Think Hawkwind with old Pink Floyd melodies, eerily sung to you from the grave by guitarist/vocalist Lupus.

After their unique and liberating one-off show in Berlin’s Heimathafen in February 2019, which for the first time ever saw them taking to the stage with four guest musicians named The Cosmic Riders Of The Black Sun (which will be released as a bonus Blu-ray with the album), they went back into songwriting mode. They played and they jammed until, seemingly out of nowhere, there was that evil and menacing riff that has since then grown into the intense “Evil Forces”. They decided here and there to fully embrace the darkness that has been kept at bay in recent years. Fuelled and encouraged by the mind-broadening experience of their Heimathafen show and inspired by darkness itself, the trio set out for Transylvania. Just like the album cover, taken in front of Dracula’s alleged crib in Transylvania, mysterious Castle Bran, the whole album is drenched in superstition, Romanian folklore and the mysterious ways of our psyche.

“This is a record with a concept, with longer, more embellished songs not particularly drawn to ordinary song structures”, Lupus explains. “Something like this wouldn’t have been possible earlier in our career. Only now do we know each other well enough to pull off something like this.” Formed in Berlin in 2010, it took the trio a mere couple of years to conquer the world and to install themselves as leaders of the vintage pack. Not with being copycats. But with their working class ethos and their constant urge to liberate themselves from all guide book rules. With their blend of retro rock, occult imagery, doom and a decidedly antique patina, they released four albums in five years and relentlessly toured the globe with their lysergic frenzy of a show.